"He wrote to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."

Kavishala mourns for Hazari Prasad Dwivedi who lived among us from 19th Aug 1907 till 19th May 1979.

He was a popular Hindi novelist, critic, famous literary historian, legendary essayist, researcher, excellent writer, scholar, of the Adhunik Kal as well as the master in many other languages like Sanskrit, Gujarati, Pali, Bengali, Punjabi, Apabhramsa, and Prakrit. Born in a traditional family of village Chhapra in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh his early education was completed there only.

Having written a variety of novels, numerous essays on many historical pieces of research on the medieval spiritual movements of India including the Kabir, Rabindranath Tagore, and Natha Sampradaya.

Dwivedi Ji used to play a major role in the evolution of the Sahitya sastra and is considered a famous reviewer on the textual custom of Indian writings. He was intended as the immense bridge maker between the past and the present. He was greatly influenced by Namvar Singh, Shivprasad Singh, and Vishwanath Tripathi.

Expertise in traditional knowledge of Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit, and modern Indian languages, Dwivedi was destined to be the great bridge maker between the past and the present. As a student of Sanskrit, steeped in the Sastras, he gave a new evaluation to Sahitya-sastra and he can rightly be considered as a great commentator on the textual tradition of the Indian literature.

Most profoundly he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957 for his contribution to Hindi Literature and the 1973 Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of essays, 'Alok Parva'.

As Dwivedi had his early education until middle examination at his village school. After completing his intermediate, he also studied Jyotisha(astrology) and Sanskrit at a traditional school to qualify for an 'AchArya' degree in astrology and a 'Shastri' degree in Sanskrit.

Later on, he was offered to join Visva Bharati in 1930. There he taught Sanskrit and Hindi and was engaged in research and creative writing. He stayed on in Santiniketan for two decades. He helped to found the Hindi Bhavana and was its head for many years.

He came to imbibe the subtleties of Bengali, the aesthetic sensibilities of Nandalal Bose, the search for roots of Kshitimohan Sen, and the gentle but piercing humor of Gurudayal Mallik. These influences are evident in his later writings.

After some time he left Shantiniketan in 1950 and became a Reader in the Hindi Department at the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, where Dr. Jagannath Prasad Sharma was the Professor and Head of the Department. Dwivedi Ji served there till 1960. While in this position, he was also appointed as a Member of the first Official Language Commission set up in 1955 by the Indian Government.

In 1960 he associated with Punjab University, in Chandigarh, as Professor and Head of its Hindi Department, a post that he held till his retirement. Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi died on 19th May 1979.

His Eminent Works

Hazari Prasad Dwivedi's best contributions to Indian creative and critical writings are phenomenal and his multiple interests.

Following are the important works in Literary History and Criticism:

  • Sahitya ki Bhumika
  • Hindi Sahitya ka Adikala

His historical analysis of the medieval religious life of India is mentioned in the following books:

  • Kabir
  • Madhyakalin Dharma Sadhana
  • Natha Sampradaya

The Novels written by him revolved around classic Historical themes and personages.

  • Banbhatta Ki Atmakatha (1946)
  • Punarnava
  • Charu-Chandra-Lekha

Some of his memorable essays are:

  • Kalplata (Shirish ke phool and other essays)
  • Nakhoon Kyon Barhte Hain (Why do the nails grow)
  • Ashok ke phool
  • Kutaj
  • Alok Parva (Collection)

He also translated many works from English and other languages to Hindi. These include:

  • Vishva Parichay
  • Lal Kaner
  • "mouthi mar the Hoa mara"